A repeating fast radio burst source in a globular cluster

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are flashes of unknown physical origin¹. The majority of FRBs have been seen only once, although some are known to generate multiple flashes^2,3. Many models invoke magnetically powered neutron stars (magnetars) as the source of the emission^4,5. Recently, the discovery⁶ of another repeater (FRB 20200120E) was announced, in the direction of the nearby galaxy M81, with four potential counterparts at other wavelengths⁶. Here we report observations that localized the FRB to a globular cluster associated with M81, where it is 2 parsecs away from the optical centre of the cluster. Globular clusters host old stellar populations, challenging FRB models that invoke young magnetars formed in a core-collapse supernova. We propose instead that FRB 20200120E originates from a highly magnetized neutron star formed either through the accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf, or the merger of compact stars in a binary system⁷. Compact binaries are efficiently formed inside globular clusters, so a model invoking them could also be responsible for the observed bursts.

Lack of evidence for an association between neurofibromatosis type I and intracranial aneurysms: autopsy study and review of the literature

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) is an autosomal dominant, hereditary, neurocutaneous syndrome purported to be associated with intracranial aneurysms. To study the relationship between NF1 and intracranial aneurysms, we have analyzed all intracranial autopsies of NF1 patients performed at our institution from 1889 to 1999 and analyzed all intracranial aneurysm cases at our institution from 1990 to 1999 in an attempt to identify patients with NF1. In addition, we have reviewed published clinical series of NF1 patients.

METHODS

The autopsy database at our institution, which contains 50 000 cases from 1889 to 1999, was searched to identify NF1 patients, and the results of these autopsies were reviewed. The prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in these NF1 patients was compared with the prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in our hospital's autopsy population and with the published prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in the general population. To identify patients with intracranial aneurysms and NF1, our institution's intracranial aneurysm database was searched for patients with clinical manifestations of NF1. Published clinical series of NF1 patients were identified through searches of the literature.

RESULTS

None of the 25 autopsy patients with NF1 had an intracranial aneurysm. None of the 925 patients treated for intracranial aneurysms were affected by NF1. A review of the literature identified 8 comprehensive clinical studies, all of which failed to document any relationship between NF1 and intracranial aneurysms.

CONCLUSIONS

The autopsy prevalence of no NF1 patients with intracranial aneurysms out of 25 is not different from the prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in the general autopsy population. In addition, no patients treated for intracranial aneurysms at this institution had NF1. These findings are supported by the observation that an association between NF1 and intracranial aneurysms has never been identified in 8 large clinical studies of NF1 patients. We conclude that there is a lack of evidence for any association between NF1 and intracranial aneurysms.

Cocaine use is an independent risk factor for cerebral vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Although acute cocaine use has been temporally associated with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), the prevalence of vasospasm and the clinical outcome of patients experiencing aSAH associated with cocaine exposure are unclear. We have analyzed this patient population in our institution to address these issues.

METHODS

Between 1992 and 1999, 440 patients presented to our institution with aSAH. This sample was retrospectively analyzed to determine which patients had used cocaine within 72 hours of aSAH as documented by urine toxicology studies or patient history. These patients were then compared with control aSAH patients without recent cocaine exposure through univariable and multivariable analyses.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven aSAH patients (6.1% of total) had either urine toxicology positive for cocaine metabolites (20 patients, 74%) or a history of cocaine use within 72 hours of aSAH (7 patients, 26%). Cocaine users were more likely to experience cerebral vasospasm defined as a delayed clinical deficit (from 3 to 16 days after aSAH) unexplained by concurrent CT scan and either responsive to hypervolemic and/or hypertensive therapy or accompanied by angiographic confirmation of vessel narrowing than control subjects (63% versus 30%; odds ratio [OR], 3.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.77 to 8.62; P=0.001). Patients using cocaine were younger than control subjects (mean age, 36 versus 52 years; P<0.0001). Aneurysms of the anterior circulation were observed more frequently in cocaine users than in control subjects (97% versus 84%; OR, 6.89; 95% CI, 1.18 to 47.47; P=0.029). A significant difference was not observed, however, in the discharge Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) scores between the 2 groups (P=0.73). Differences were not observed between the 2 groups when the distributions of sex, hypertension, admission Glasgow Coma Scale subarachnoid hemorrhage grade, and multiple aneurysms were analyzed. Logistic regression models identified variables independently associated with vasospasm and discharge GOS score. Only a thick blood clot on the admission CT (OR, 7.46; 95% CI, 3.95 to 14.08; P<0.0001) and recent cocaine use (OR, 6.41; 95% CI, 2.14 to 19.23; P=0.0009) were independently associated with vasospasm. Cocaine use was not independently associated with the discharge GOS score.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that there is an increased prevalence of vasospasm in aSAH patients with recent cocaine exposure but no difference in clinical outcome. In addition, these patients are younger and more likely to have anterior circulation aneurysms.

Arthroscopic repair of partial-thickness rotator cuff tears and SLAP lesions in professional baseball players

Internal impingement is a primary cause of shoulder pain in throwers; however, instability, internal rotation deficit, scapula muscle dysfunction, and core muscle dysfunction are also important elements of the internal impingement process. Articular surface rotator cuff tears, posterior superior labrum tears, SLAP lesions, anterior capsular ligament attenuation, and posterior capsular ligament contracture are commonly seen in throwers. Each of these conditions must be recognized and appropriately treated to ensure the best possible outcome. There is little potential for spontaneous healing of rotator cuff tears and SLAP lesions after debridement.

Surveillance strategies and impact of vancomycin-resistant enterococcal colonization and infection in critically ill patients

OBJECTIVE

To determine the optimal site and frequency for vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) surveillance to minimize the number of days of VRE colonization before identification and subsequent isolation.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA

The increasing prevalence of VRE and the limited therapeutic options for its treatment demand early identification of colonization to prevent transmission.

METHODS

The authors conducted a 3-month prospective observational study in medical and surgical intensive care unit (ICU) patients with a stay of 3 days or more. Oropharyngeal and rectal swabs, tracheal and gastric aspirates, and urine specimens were cultured for VRE on admission to the ICU and twice weekly until discharge.

RESULTS

Of 117 evaluable patients, 23 (20%) were colonized by VRE. Twelve patients (10%) had VRE infection. Of nine patients who developed infections after ICU admission, eight were colonized before infection. The rectum was the first site of colonization in 92% of patients, and positive rectal cultures preceded 89% of infections acquired in the ICU. This was supported by strain delineations using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Twice-weekly rectal surveillance alone identified 93% of the maximal estimated VRE-related patient-days; weekly or admission-only surveillance was less effective. As a test for future VRE infection, rectal surveillance culture twice weekly had a negative predictive value of 99%, a positive predictive value of 44%, and a relative risk for infection of 34.

CONCLUSIONS

Twice-weekly rectal VRE surveillance of critically ill patients is an effective strategy for early identification of colonized patients at increased risk for VRE transmission, infection, and death.

Hemangioblastomas of the central nervous system in von Hippel-Lindau syndrome and sporadic disease

OBJECTIVE

The presentation, screening, management, and clinical outcomes of patients who presented to our institution from 1973 to 1999 with central nervous system (CNS) hemangioblastomas in von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome and sporadic disease were analyzed.

METHODS

The surgical pathology database of our institution was searched to identify all patients with histologically verified CNS hemangioblastomas occurring from 1973 to 1999. The medical, radiological, surgical, pathological, and autopsy records from these patients were reviewed retrospectively and statistically analyzed.

RESULTS

Forty patients (21 males and 19 females) presented with CNS hemangioblastomas. Twenty-five patients (62%) harbored sporadic hemangioblastomas. Fifteen patients (38%) had VHL syndrome. These 40 patients presented with 61 hemangioblastomas (8 patients had multiple lesions). Ten patients (25%) harbored spinal cord hemangioblastomas (5 patients had multiple lesions). Patients with VHL disease tended to present with neurological symptoms and signs at a younger age than patients with sporadic disease (P = 0.09), to present with multiple lesions (53%), and to develop new lesions (rate, 1 lesion/2.1 yr). Hemangioblastomas of the spinal cord were more prevalent in patients with VHL syndrome (P = 0.024). Neuroradiological screening of patients with VHL syndrome allowed identification of more than 75% of new lesions before they became symptomatic. Sixty-six surgical procedures were performed (12 patients required multiple operations). Six patients with VHL syndrome required surgery for new lesions. Surgical complications occurred in six patients (15%). Symptom resolution or arrest of progression at 1 year was documented in 88% of patients. Recurrence of symptoms from partially resected lesions occurred in eight patients (20%). No deaths associated with surgery occurred. One patient with sporadic disease and one patient with VHL syndrome (5%) died as a result of late medical complications from CNS hemangioblastomas.

CONCLUSION

Surgical outcomes for patients with CNS hemangioblastomas are favorable. However, management of hemangioblastomas is a more difficult and prolonged endeavor for patients with VHL syndrome. In patients with VHL syndrome, neuroradiological screening allows identification of lesions before they become symptomatic. Because patients with VHL syndrome are at risk for development of new lesions, they require lifelong follow-up.

The changing morphology and increasing deceleration of supernova 1993J in M81

Twenty consecutive Very Long Baseline Interferometry images of supernova 1993J from the time of explosion to the present show the dynamic evolution of the expanding radio shell of an exploded star. High-precision astrometry reveals that the supernova expands isotropically from its explosion center. Systematic changes in the images may reflect a pattern of anisotropies and inhomogeneities in the material left over from the progenitor star. As the shock front sweeps up the material in the surrounding medium, it is increasingly decelerated and influenced by the material. After 5 years, the supernova has slowed to half of its original expansion velocity and may have entered the early stages of the adiabatic phase common in much older supernova remnants in the Milky Way Galaxy.

H i Absorption in the Steep-Spectrum Superluminal Quasar 3C 216

The search for H i absorption in strong compact steep-spectrum sources is a natural way to probe the neutral gas contents in young radio sources. In turn, this may provide information about the evolution of powerful radio sources. The recently improved capabilities of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope have made it possible to detect a 0.31% (19 mJy) deep neutral atomic hydrogen absorption line associated with the steep-spectrum superluminal quasar 3C 216. The redshift (z=0.67) of the source shifts the frequency of the 21 cm line down to the ultra-high-frequency (UHF) band (850 MHz). The exact location of the H i-absorbing gas remains to be determined by spectral line VLBI observations at 850 MHz. We cannot exclude that the gas might be extended on galactic scales, but we think it is more likely to be located in the central kiloparsec. Constraints from the lack of X-ray absorption probably rule out obscuration of the core region, and we argue that the most plausible site for the H i absorption is in the jet-cloud interaction observed in this source.

Marfan syndrome is not associated with intracranial aneurysms

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been proposed that patients with Marfan syndrome have an increased prevalence of intracranial aneurysms. This proposition is based on 10 clinical reports, 1 pathology case, and an autopsy series of 7 patients. By contrast, 5 clinical series of Marfan patients have failed to document any such relationship. We present our institution's autopsy and clinical experience with Marfan syndrome and analyze in our patient population the purported association between this condition and intracranial aneurysms.

METHODS

The results of an autopsy series at the Johns Hopkins Hospital of 25 confirmed Marfan syndrome patients from 1939 to the present were reviewed retrospectively. The prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in this Marfan syndrome autopsy series was compared with that in the autopsy population at this institution and with that in the general autopsy population as reported in the literature. In addition, the prevalence of Marfan syndrome in a recent neurosurgical series of 710 consecutive aneurysm cases (1990-1998) was determined.

RESULTS

Of the 25 autopsy cases, only 1 had evidence on autopsy of an unruptured, 2-mm aneurysmal dilatation at the anterior communicating artery complex. Three autopsy patients suffered intracranial hemorrhages but had negative angiography and postmortem examinations for intracranial aneurysms. The remaining 21 patients had negative autopsies for intracranial hemorrhages or intracranial aneurysms. The neurosurgical series of 710 patients treated for intracranial aneurysms did not include any patient with Marfan syndrome.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of 1 patient of 25 with an intracranial aneurysm is not statistically different from the 1.3% prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in the autopsy population at this institution (P=0.24) or from the 2.0% prevalence of intracranial aneurysms in the general autopsy population (P=0.31). We therefore conclude that there exists no evidence that Marfan syndrome is associated with an increased prevalence of intracranial aneurysms.

High-titer recombinant adeno-associated virus production utilizing a recombinant herpes simplex virus type I vector expressing AAV-2 Rep and Cap

Recombinant adeno-associated virus type 2 (rAAV) vectors have recently been used to achieve long-term, high level transduction in vivo. Further development of rAAV vectors for clinical use requires significant technological improvements in large-scale vector production. In order to facilitate the production of rAAV vectors, a recombinant herpes simplex virus type I vector (rHSV-1) which does not produce ICP27, has been engineered to express the AAV-2 rep and cap genes. The optimal dose of this vector, d27.1-rc, for AAV production has been determined and results in a yield of 380 expression units (EU) of AAV-GFP produced from 293 cells following transfection with AAV-GFP plasmid DNA. In addition, d27.1-rc was also efficient at producing rAAV from cell lines that have an integrated AAV-GFP provirus. Up to 480 EU/cell of AAV-GFP could be produced from the cell line GFP-92, a proviral, 293 derived cell line. Effective amplification of rAAV vectors introduced into 293 cells by infection was also demonstrated. Passage of rAAV with d27. 1-rc results in up to 200-fold amplification of AAV-GFP with each passage after coinfection of the vectors. Efficient, large-scale production (>109 cells) of AAV-GFP from a proviral cell line was also achieved and these stocks were free of replication-competent AAV. The described rHSV-1 vector provides a novel, simple and flexible way to introduce the AAV-2 rep and cap genes and helper virus functions required to produce high-titer rAAV preparations from any rAAV proviral construct. The efficiency and potential for scalable delivery of d27.1-rc to producer cell cultures should facilitate the production of sufficient quantities of rAAV vectors for clinical application.

Evolution of the species 'expert nurse'. An examination of the practical knowledge held by expert nurses

The aim of this study was to examine the knowledge that expert nurses use in practice and the factors that influence knowledge use and development. A combined ethnographic and phenomenological methodology was used. Data were collected by questionnaires, interviews, workshops, observation visits and critical incident technique. Knowledge and expertise were found to have developed in response to the 'world view' held by expert nurses. Four distinct types of experts holding different knowledge bases emerged from the data.

Recombinant adeno-associated virus type 2 replication and packaging is entirely supported by a herpes simplex virus type 1 amplicon expressing Rep and Cap

Recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) type 2 (rAAV) vectors have recently been shown to have great utility as gene transfer agents both in vitro and in vivo. One of the problems associated with the use of rAAV vectors has been the difficulty of large-scale vector production. Low-efficiency plasmid transfection of the rAAV vector and complementing AAV type 2 (AAV-2) functions (rep and cap) followed by superinfection with adenovirus has been the standard approach to rAAV production. The objectives of this study were to demonstrate the ability of a recombinant herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) amplicon expressing AAV-2 Rep and Cap to support replication and packaging of rAAV vectors. HSV-1 amplicon vectors were constructed which contain the AAV-2 rep and cap genes under control of their native promoters (p5, p19, and p40). An HSV-1 amplicon vector, HSV-RC/KOS or HSV-RC/d27, was generated by supplying helper functions with either wild-type HSV-1 (KOS strain) or the ICP27-deleted mutant of HSV-1, d27-1, respectively. Replication of the amplicon stocks is not inhibited by the presence of AAV-2 Rep proteins, which highlights important differences between HSV-1 and adenovirus replication and the mechanism of providing helper function for productive AAV infection. Coinfection of rAAV and HSV-RC/KOS resulted in the replication and amplification of rAAV genomes. Similarly, rescue and replication of rAAV genomes occurred when rAAV vector plasmids were transfected into cells followed by HSV-RC/KOS infection and when two rAAV proviral cell lines were infected with HSV-RC/KOS or HSV-RC/d27. Production of infectious rAAV by rescue from two rAAV proviral cell lines has also been achieved with HSV-RC/KOS and HSV-RC/d27. The particle titer of rAAV produced with HSV-RC/d27 is equal to that achieved by supplying rep and cap by transfection followed by adenovirus superinfection. Importantly, no detectable wild-type AAV-2 is generated with this approach. These results demonstrate that an HSV-1 amplicon expressing the AAV-2 genes rep and cap along with HSV-1 helper functions supports the replication and packaging of rAAV vectors in a scaleable process.

A monkey could do your job!

The present ethos in the health service of cost effectiveness and quality assurance requires nurses to identify the value of nursing practice in a way previously unheard of. Questions arise from this in relation to nursing and the nature of nursing. Some managers I have discussed these issues with believe that nurses are not required in theatre. It is not really surprising that such beliefs abound. Nurses have traditionally been more preoccupied with getting the work done than analysing the value of the nursing role. Much of this role is practical and there has, in the past, been little written about the nature of practical nursing let alone specifically about the practice of theatre nurses. Benner's work, with its emphasis on practice and recognition of nursing expertise, has brought about a reconceptualisation of the value of practice and of the knowledge found in that practice. In addition, the whole area of practical knowledge and expertise is now benefiting from further exploration.

Medial instability of the elbow in throwing athletes. Treatment by repair or reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament

From September 1974 to December 1987, seventy-one patients were operated on for valgus instability of the elbow. The average length of follow-up of sixty-eight patients (seventy operations) was 6.3 years (range, two to fifteen years). At the operation, a torn or incompetent ulnar collateral ligament was found. Fourteen patients had a direct repair of the ligament, and fifty-six had a reconstruction of the ligament using a free tendon graft. The result was excellent or good in ten patients in the repair group and in forty-five (80 per cent) in the reconstruction group. Seven of the fourteen patients who had a direct repair returned to the previous level of participation in their sport. Of the fifty-six who had a reconstruction, thirty-eight (68 per cent) returned to the previous level of participation. Twelve of the sixteen major-league baseball players who had a reconstruction as the primary operation (no previous operation on the elbow) were able to return to playing major-league baseball, and two of the seven major-league players who had a direct repair returned to playing major-league baseball. Previous operations on the elbow decreased the chance of returning to the previous level of sports participation (p = 0.04). Fifteen patients had postoperative ulnar neuropathy. This was transient in six patients, only one of whom was unable to return to the previous level of sport. The other nine patients had an additional operation for the neuropathy; four were able to return to the previous level of sport.